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Housekeeping

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Hey y’all. I apparently suck at keeping a blog. That’s why I became a Twitterer.

That said:

  • Here’s my latest op-ed on the difficulties of doing a Jewish social entrepreneur fellowship if you’re lower or middle class. It sparked a mighty interesting conversation throughout the Jewish community, eliciting responses from the Joshua Venture’s Lisa Lepson, the Jim Josephs Foundation’s Adene Sacks, PresenTense’s Ariel Beery, Upstart’s Maya Bernstein and Jewschool’s newest contributor Donald Cohen-Cutler. I’m interested to hear your thoughts…
  • I recently had a rather fascinating open dialogue with UJA Federation of NY’s John Ruskay at the B’nai Jeshurun Men’s Havurah. You can check out the coverage in The Forward and The Jewish Week.
  • It’s worth noting that I also got engaged recently, which I have yet to remark upon here, so here it is. I’ll be getting hitched in August to the sweetest sack o’ sugar to dance upon this earth.
  • And finally, check out my latest endeavor: 31 Days, 31 Ideas, wherein I’ll be braindumping all my ideas to change the Jewish future over the course of 31 days, beginning January 1st.

Happy New Year!

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5770.0: How Jewish orgs are using the social web

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5770.0
Obligatory Twitpic via @92Y

Audio of the JTA-sponsored discussion I moderated tonight at the 92nd St. Y about the Jewish Interwebs, after the jump. Participating are J Street campaigns director Isaac Luria, Chabad.org media relations officer Motti Seligson, and the Jewish Wedding Network’s Sara Schwimmer Marcus.

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UJC: We speak for you whether you like it or not

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The following is a conversation between me and William Daroff, Vice President of Public Policy at the United Jewish Communities (the umbrella organization of America’s Jewish federations), which took place the morning of Monday, September 14 via Twitter.

The discussion began after I challenged some strong remarks Daroff had made condemning J Street’s position on the diplomatic engagement of Iran. What ensued was an immensely revealing dialogue that exposes the chutzpah of our so-called national Jewish leadership, who operate as self-appointed arbiters and representatives of Jewish public opinion.

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J Street celebrates the Juicebox Mafia

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I’m in Pittsburgh, PA at Netroots Nation, where last night J Street held a happy hour to both hob-knob with other progressives committed to a just two-state solution, and to honor three bloggers who have stood alongside J Street in its cause: Spencer Ackerman, Matthew Yglesias and Matt Duss.

Together with Ezra Klein and a few other progressive Jewish bloggers and columnists, these gentlemen compose a clique pejoratively deemed “the Juicebox Mafia” by the likes of The New Republic and Commentary magazine.

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JTA: Mission Accomplished

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JTA

Today’s my last day at JTA.

After two years of making my mark and proving my worth to “the establishment,” I’m moving on to a new position with Repair the World, a recently launched Jewish service initiative that aims to make doing community service as ubiquitous as having a bar or bat mitzvah.

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NIF New Generations benefit tix go on sale Monday!

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New Israel Fund New Generations Benefit 2009

Dearest friends,

I have been given the distinguished honor of co-chairing this year’s New Israel Fund New Generations benefit. The event, which will take place at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom on September 9, features the Israeli DJ crew Soulico, as well as the Ethio-Israeli hip-hop duo Axum, and will help support New Israel Fund programs in Israel over the next year.

For you, this means two things:

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Of mountains and molehills

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tabloid

Here are 10 things that happened in the Jewish world yesterday which Tablet thought less significant than the fact that I mistook a piece of art by Dan Colen for one by his longtime collaborator, Dash Snow, in a tweet.

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Alien nation

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Shkoyach to J Street’s campaign director, Isaac Goldstein Luria, on his cogent op-ed in today’s Forward, “In Machers vs. Obama, the Youth Have Voted.”

Jewish communal leaders should consider that the more aggressively they criticize this president’s sensible pro-Israel policies, the more they will alienate us from their aging institutions.

Amen, amen.

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Back to the garden

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I had the pleasure of spending the day yesterday at Eden Village Camp, the new Jewish environmental summer camp in Putnam Valley, NY, run by Yoni Stadlin and Vivian Lehrer. Based at the site of a former UJA Federation camp, the new camp, which will teach children environmental stewardship, sustainable agriculture, and Jewish agricultural values, was founded with an innovation grant from the Foundation for Jewish Camp.

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Celebrating Jewish heritage with the Brooklyn Cyclones

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Apologies for the sound.

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